Lie Caused Arrest

Transit Must Pay $12G for Bad Rap

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

The Chief-Leader/Ginger Adams Otis SWEET VICTORY: Former New York City Transit Checker Lincoln Bernier, who represented himself for several years while pursuing a wrongful arrest case against the Police Department, was awarded a $12,000 judgment after a jury found that a NYC Transit supervisor knowingly gave police false information that landed him in jail. 'Now I'm going to try and get my job as a Train Conductor back,' he said.

New York City Transit has been ordered to pay a former Traffic Checker $12,000 in damages after a jury decreed that one of the agency's managers maliciously and intentionally gave police false information that led to the worker's arrest for a crime he did not commit.

It took a jury three days to find Mike Papagianopoulos, an Associate Staff Analyst with NYC Transit, guilty of violating the civil rights of Lincoln Bernier, a former Traffic Checker who transferred to MetroNorth Railroad in the mid-1990s.

'Just Put Me Back'

Mr. Bernier, who represented himself for nearly six years before finding a lawyer to take on his case, said he felt "vindicated" by the decision.

"All I want now is to get my job back as a Conductor," he said. "I was good at it - I was one of the real colorful ones, you know, that always talks to the people. I'm not looking for any back pay or anything like that. I just want to get back on the subways."

Mr. Bernier was arrested in 1997 after two plainclothes Detectives, believing he had illegally entered the subway system, searched his wallet and found an expired employee pass for NYC Transit.

The officers called transit headquarters to verify that Mr. Bernier was a former employee, and were told by Mr. Papagianopoulos that the pass had been stolen. Mr. Bernier was arrested and charged with possession of stolen property.

"It's amazing to me, the amount of sustained hostility someone had for a guy who had been active in his union years earlier," said Arthur Schwartz, legal counsel for Local 100. "Papagianopoulos was [then] an Acting Manager of Administration and had a number of human resource responsibilities. Bernier used to go to him with grievances on a weekly basis. It's not like cops gave him a name over the phone and he read them bad information from a computer. He knew exactly who Bernier was, and the jury found he acted with animus - he intentionally gave false information in order to get Bernier arrested."

Outspoken Activist

When Mr. Bernier first joined NYC Transit as a Traffic Checker in 1987, the title wasn't represented by Transport Workers' Union Local 100, but workers voted to join the union later that year.

Mr. Bernier quickly became a vocal union activist and was eventually elected chairman of his division. His efforts on behalf of Traffic Checkers - one of the lowest-paid titles at NYC Transit - brought him into close proximity with many agency supervisors.

When he went on three weeks' leave in 1992 after the birth of his first child, he was fired for taking an unauthorized vacation. An arbitrator reinstated Mr. Bernier in 1994. A few months later, after successfully sitting for the Conductor's exam, he was promoted into that job.

He was fired on his last day of probation, again for taking a leave that agency supervisors said was unauthorized; Mr. Bernier argued he had used his vacation time to visit his dying mother. Mr. Schwartz said agency records never marked him "absent without leave," indicating he had been given permission by someone.

Illegal Entry?

Mr. Bernier transferred to Metro North and worked without incident for several years. In 1997, in the city on business, he showed his Metro North pass to a Station Agent at Jay Street in Brooklyn, who buzzed him through the turnstile, which she had discretion to do.

On the other side, he was approached by two plainclothes officers who asked to see his pass. They first called Metro North and confirmed it was valid, but then said they wanted to search his wallet.

"Even though it was a bad search and they had no reason to go through his belongings, he wanted to cooperate and he said yes," said Mr. Schwartz.

The officers found an old NYC Transit employee pass in his wallet, dating from his time as a Traffic Checker, bearing his name and photograph. Mr. Bernier had misplaced the card years ago and reported it lost. The agency issued him a new one, which he turned in when he went to Metro North.

He later found the original pass and carried it in his wallet, but "never attempted to use it for anything," said Mr. Schwartz.

Called Papagianopoulos

The officers called NYC Transit and got Mr. Papagianopoulos on the phone. He informed them that the pass Mr. Bernier was carrying had been stolen, which led to Mr. Bernier's arrest.

He was charged with possession of stolen property, and even though a lawyer was eventually able to get the case dismissed, Mr. Bernier found he was unable to apply for a number of law enforcement jobs he'd been considering because of his besmirched record.

He eventually decided to sue NYC Transit and Mr. Papagianopoulos, as well as the Police Department. The city settled out of court last year and paid Mr. Bernier $15,000 in damages.

NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said he couldn't comment on the likelihood of an appeal of last month's jury verdict until agency lawyers had time to review the decision.